people shouldn't jump to conclusions before we have all the facts. but make no mistake. we will get to the bottom of this. and we will find out who did this. we'll find out why they did this. any response individuals, any responsible groups, will feel the full weight of justice. >> still looking for answers this morning after a day of celebration turns into a nightmare at the boston marathon. two bombs exploded right near the finish line yesterday. right now, we know that there are three people dead, including an 8-year-old boy. at least 120 other people are hurt. many of them critically. good morning from boston. i'm christian jansing. and this is "way too early." we have a lot of developments to talk about on this tuesday, april 16th. we'll get the latest on conflicting reports about additional unexploded bombs as the fbi takes the lead in this investigation. and the stories of survival and heroism from the scene.

how runners, spectators and first responders protected the wounded and vulnerable. speculation is mounting whether the blasts were domestic or internationally orchestrated terror. let's recap the latest for you. three people are dead, including an 8-year-old boy. his family members are reportedly seriously wounded, as well. that number could go up with nearly 130 people injured. two explosive devices were detonated less than 15 seconds apart at the finish line of the race. here's the iconic video, shot around 2:50 p.m., well after the top tier of runners had finished. there you see the blast. giant plumes of gray smoke in the air. they could be seen across the charles river. and of course, people went scrambling from the grandstands. >> large plumes of dust and smoke, glass. everybody was going crazy.

at first it sounded like a canon blast. >> it was loud. >> i knew immediately, it was a bomb. you could smell it. there was a gun powder smell. a cloud. people scrambling. >> a guy next to me, and his wife, lost her limb. and we help him. and we help her get in an ambulance. it was unspeakable images that nobody should ever seen. and it's contradictory to the spirit of the marathon. >> police say the devices contained small, round metal objects, like beebes or ball barings. dozens of people were rushed to

nearby hospitals. doctors reported treating patients with heavy bone, tissue and vascular damage. some witnesses compared the injuries to those you would see on a battlefield. >> we mobilized, not just the trauma team on for today. but the backup team and the backup to the backup team. this is like a bomb explosion that we hear about in the news in baghdad or israel or some other tragic point -- space in the world. >> there was like, boom. and then, you know, both of us, we've been to afghanistan. you expect that [ bleep ] there. we didn't expect that here. celebration. yeah, that's awesome. and everyone started screaming an running towards us. >> the crime scene was daunting for investigators, with not only the wounded, but heavy smoke and debris and hundreds of race bags were strewn everywhere. people who were fleeing threw off backpacks, other things they were carrirying just to get awa

from the scene. and each left behind had to be treated as a possible threat. it was difficult for runners and spectators to find loved ones, with the race pack separated in all the chaos. "the boston globe" reports, one mother got a frantic call from her son in the back of an ambulance. he and his brother had gone to watch the race. both brothers lost a leg in the explosion. this morning, much of the back bay area of boston is shut down, as the fbi-led investigation continues. there are rumors of suspects and persons of interest. but nothing concrete. a lookout was released with only a vague description, a person wearing a dark -- wearing dark clothing and a hood, as well as an alert for a rental truck that was seen trying to enter the area near the finish line. so far, no one is in custody. authorities are confirming, now, the search of an apartment in neighboring revere. it's unclear if it's part of the investigation into the bombings.

flights at boston's logan airport were halted for hours. finally restarting last night. and new york city and washington, d.c. are on heightened alert. the secret service shutting down pennsylvania avenue out of an abundance of caution. last night, president obama addressed the country, stopping short of calling the blast terrorism. and asking for the prayers of the nation. >> the american people will say a prayer for boston tonight. and michelle and i said our deepest thoughts and prayers to the families and the victims in the wake of this sense tense loss. bost season a tough and resilient town. so are its people. i'm confident that bostonians will pull together, and move forward as one proud city. as they do, the american people will be with them every single step of the way. >> the bombing brought back painful memories for boston. after all, one of the planes took off from logan airport on september 11th, nearly 12 years ago. michael leiter is an nbc news

national security analyst. he's the former director of the national counterterrorism center in washington. michael, thanks for joining us. where i'm sitting is about four blocks from the crime scene. but on a area about a block away is being treated as a crime scene. i'm sure investigators have been working into the night and will be working around the clock. what are the first things they're looking for, michael? >> good morning, chris. they're going to do a number of things simultaneously. as you referenced, right around the scene, they're going to secure a fairly wide area. they have to get as much evidence as they can from the actual bomb blast. that's important to understand the type of explosives that were used, how they were detonated. and then, that can be compared against past similar explosions. to try to determine who is responsible. second, they're going to be talking to enormous number of people in the area. what did they see in they're going to be collecting videotape. and all that will be combined with information not just from

boston but around the country and around the world, other intelligence sources to see if something helps them understand who was behind this act. >> we just look at the evidence that we have, watching from this distance. what do these pictures from the blast site tell you, if anything, michael? >> we have to be very careful to speculate here. on a very basic level, first of all, we know the bombs were clearly intended to miami and kill. the use of projectiles of some sort to increase fragments. and the blast radius was fairly significant. now, my guess is that these were probably something the size of a medium-sized backpack bomb. a large-sized suitcase bomb would probably be about 50 pounds and have a killing radius of about 150 feet. it looks like these were a little smaller. we didn't see massive structural damage with the buildings. but the fact that these bombs were placed pretty strategically

along the end of the route. they were exploded nearly simultaneously. it shows some degree of sophistication here. i would be hesitant to jump to a conclusion, whether that meant domestic or international terrorism. but somebody thought this out pretty well. >> it is interesting and maybe contradictly. but what kristen welker was told, any event with multiple explosive devices is clearly an act of terror. on the other hand, what we heard from officials yesterday was that there was no chatter. nothing on any of the usual channels that they monitor. what do you make of those two seemingly contradictory pieces of information? >> i think they're quite consistent. the white house, appropriately so, going to be very careful about attributing responsibility. you, of course, have the attack in benghazi not too long ago. and every word will be parsed

later on. and so, you can look at this and know it's not an accident. it's clearly terrorism. but the fact that we didn't have any previous warning of it, that we see right now, this, unfortunately, does happen. none of our defenses will be perfect. the intelligence up front is not going to be perfect. things are going to get through. you hope you have a series of other protective measures in place. at the parade route, in the region. that might catch these things and reduce casualties. but regrettably, we've been surprised in the past. i hate to say it, although we're a lot better and safer than we were in 2001, we're going to continue to have these surprises in the future. >> but since 2001, what have we learned about investigating these sorts of incidents? and even the technology itself, as it improved significantly since then? >> it really has. and i would say on almost every front, the improvements are

really significant. what we have defended against extremely effectively, is a large-scale catastrophic attack like what we saw on 9/11. and these sorts of things, our intelligence, our coordination on investigation, across agencies, between the federal and local government, are vastly better. our technology for detecting explosives and follow-up investigations, vastly better. these sorts of attacks, as tragic as it was. 3 people killed, over 100 wounded, there's still of a relatively small scale. again, it's not surprising to me that you could have an attack like this and not see information either from the fbi or overseas, that was international terrorism, indicating there might be some threat, either generally or pointed at boston. the level of professionalism and understanding of how now to investigate this and the level of coordination, is markedly

better. that will move the investigation forward at a rate we never would have seen in 1995, or with timothy mcveigh or going forward in 2011. >> it wasn't just the boston marathon. it was patriots' day. do you think that the date might play in the investigation? >> the date, april 15th, tax day, patriots day, the marathon, please be individual dots that investigators will think about. they will be careful to, the media, i include myself in that, now, we want to connect those dots very quickly and say, look. it was pats' day. it might be extremists. these are all individual dots that, at some point, will make sense. but right now, the federal bureau of investigation, the boston police, others in the u.s. government, are really in the process of collecting all of these dots. the date, potential groups that might have made threats before, the forensic information. looking at overseas intelligence. and it's really only after all

of those dots are collected, that you very slowly and methodically start to connect them slowly. so, it may very well be that april 15th had some consequence here. it could turn out it had nothing to do with it. this was simply the boston marathon or simply an attack of opportunity. a factor, do we know if it's positive or points in one point or another? not less than 24 hours later. no, we really don't. >> you talk about the dots that need to be connected. and one of the conversations that was had, certainly within the anti-terrorism community and in the halls of congress after 9/11, was cooperation and sharing information. and changing, basically, the culture and the ways that information gets shared. and when you talk about the vastness and the number of pieces of the puzzle when

something like this happens, without getting too in depth, how does this get coordinated, mikele? and we know that the fbi takes the lead. but who sort of has sort of oversight and looks at all that information and puts it together and tries to get a cohesive answer out of it? >> you're absolutely right. it is an enormous challenge. what you will have is fundamentally two major centers of effort, all led by the fbi. in boston, you'll have the fbi-led joint terrorism task force, which brings in information from across the federal government and will work very, very closely with the boston police, the massachusetts state police and others. that will then feed into the effort here in washington, which will, again, be led by the fbi as the principal federal organization. they will pull in information from across the federal government. so, they will turn to the central intelligence agency for information, from overseas. they will turn to the department of defense to see if they have information. and so on and so on.

that information will end up at the fbi in washington, in conjuncti conjunction, fed to the white house with consultation with the entire security council. an event of this scope and this centrality in the united states will have the president's attention for a very long period, as well as the secretaries of homeland security, the director of the cia, and of course, a director of the fbi. >> michael leiter, thanks so much for taking the time this morning. >> of course, chris. thank you. still ahead on "way too early," two journalists who were just a few feet away from the blast as it happened. what they saw and what they did after the bombs eshxploded. we'll look at what the significance is at targeting the long standing marathon

tradition. "way too early" will be right back. >> you heard a loud boom. no one knew what it was. but it stopped everyone. >> the ground shook. >> i have that image and that sound. i'll never forget the sound. and i'll never forget the imagery i saw when i approached. >> as soon as that second one went off, it was complete mayhem. >> everything going through my head was, this is an attack. this is not an accident. two can't happen in 15 seconds. >> you don't know what direction to run in. a third one could come. if there was one, there was two, there could be three. mine was earned in djibouti, africa, 2004.

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vo: to the elegant trim es in each and every piece, bold will make your reality a dream. welcome back to "way too early." we are looking at live pictures of boston this morning, as we continue our special coverage of the marathon bombings. i'm chris jansing. two journalists of "the boston

globe" were at the finish line. they were taking in the scene, as the runners and first responders reacted to the attack. here's what they saw. >> just the finish line, getting the late runners across, at 2:50 p.m., sitting up on the finish line. things going along swimmingly. and then, boom. and smoke just billowed straight up into the air. and me and the other photographers just immediately ran over there. and within 20 seconds of that, as we were starting to get a grip on the scene, a second explosion went off up in the ne next corner, at boylston and fifth. both devices were in trash cans. we had a number of cuts and bruises. facial cuts. i saw a man who lost part of his leg. the police, the fire, everyone was scrambling. it was a chaotic scene. and the injuries were nothing short of horrific. the other thing turned quickly

into a crime scene. it's been known as the best day in boston. a lot of people out there, unfortunately. they turned a beautiful day into a horrific day and nightmare. >> i was standing on the finish line, taking video of runners coming in. when the blast -- the first blast occurred about ten feet from where i was standing. we saw what was essentially a pile of bodies. a lot of horrific things. the worst things i've seen as a journalist. we saw a lot of blood, a lot of shattered glass. i still can't get the image of a woman with clearly not breathing, with her eyes open, staring straight up at the sky. it's definitely frightening. first, we were stunned by the explosion. weren't sure what was happening. a lot of people were thinking, as often is the case, with

explosions, that it was like a firework, perhaps. a celebratory gun salute for the finishing runners. the contrast is really jarring because you had this moment of grace, blitz and celebration of runners, just making it across the distance of the marathon. and then suddenly, everything changed. i think as soon as i heard and anyone else who heard the explosion, we knew immediately, like when we saw the second plane hit the second tower of the world trade center, we knew immediately that this was premeditated. this was a terrorist attack. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," live from boston, continuing coverage of the marathon bombings. they will be joined by a variety of guests and insights into the investigation. when we come back here, boston's own mike barnacle will put the attack into context. what it means for the future of

the marathon. how will it impact the traditions of this proud city? [ male announcer ] why is kellogg's crunchy nut so delicious? because every flake is double-toasted... splashed with sweet honey... and covered in rich double-roasted peanuts. mmm. [ hero ] yummy. [ male announcer ] kellogg's crunchy nut. it's super delicious! that's not much, you think. except it's 2% every year. go to e-trade and find out how much our advice and guidance costs. spoiler alert: it's low. it's guidance on your terms, not ours.

welcome back to "way too early," as we continue our special coverage of the marathon bombings. i'm chris jansing. and joining us in boston, nbc contributor, mike barnicle. thanks for being here. i was thinking the last time you and i sat like this was a little down south, was when jfk jr.'s

plane disappeared. here we are, at another tragedy. who would have thought, mike, at the boston marathon? >> yeah. it's almost inconceivable. yet, when you think about the age we live in, it's not inconceivable. the larger picture here is what marathon day means in boston and new england, and around the world, actually. it's a day when everything is shut down in boston, chris. it's a holiday. patriots day. people from all over the world, all over this country gather. there's no schools. school vacation is this week. you have hundreds of thousands of people gathered in one specific area. and in the past, right in the newspaper column here, stories would bump into you. you would bump into stories. everyone has a story. at that hour of the day, well towards an hour after the first finishers came across the finish line, there would be people who were waiting for a relative to run by. a father, a son, a sister, a brother. running for cause, for cancer

awareness, aids awareness. >> or this year, 26 for 26. the 26 victims of newtown. >> and they were there. some of them were running. there were many family members from newtown at the finish line. and have this horrific thing occur, right at the height of the crowd, is -- it will alter the marathon. it will not alter the spirit of the people in this city or in this country. >> we should say, people put themselves in danger. i watched people running toward the scene. they didn't know if there was going to be another blast. but they went to help people, without thought to their own safety. >> i spoke to a young man who was at the finish line waiting for his girlfriend to come across the finish line. never saw his girlfriend coming across the finish line. but he ended up employing a tourniquet to a young woman whose leg was destroyed in the bomb blast. >> it's extraordinary. can you put into words of what it's done to you, as somebody who loves boston so much.

>> what it does is it puts a shadow on a terrific event. but the resiliency, the spirit of the people in this city and this country, it won't alter that. >> mike barnicle will be here throughout "morning joe." thanks so much to you. thank you for watching this special edition of "way too early." morning joe" moments away, live from boston. for those nights when it's more than a bad dream, be ready. for the times you need to double-check the temperature on the thermometer, be ready. for high fever, nothing works faster or lasts longer. be ready with children's motrin. get younger looking skin fast. with new olay regenerist micro-sculpting cream. with 2 new anti-aging ingredients. visible wrinkle reduction starts day 1. see younger looking skin before you finish one jar. new from olay.

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